


Stranded

by naivesilver



Category: Sonic X, Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-13 12:30:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21494332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naivesilver/pseuds/naivesilver
Summary: Earth was nothing like home, that much was clear.Or, a slow day at the Chaotix Detective Agency.
Relationships: Charmy Bee & Espio the Chameleon
Comments: 10
Kudos: 59





	Stranded

"Espio. Espiooooooo."

The chameleon cracked an eye open, resisting the urge to sigh. "Yes, Charmy, what is it?"

He hoped the kid was just bored, and that he hadn't come to tell him he'd broken something of import. Espio hadn't been meditating, not quite, but he'd been on the verge of dozing off, lulled by the sound of the rain falling on the roof above them. He'd have hated to ruin such a quiet day by yelling at Charmy.

It was the rain that was keeping them locked up inside. It was downright pouring, too wet by far to go out and look for clues, and they didn't have a case to work on to begin with. They’d fixed a hole on the ceiling before it could start leaking on their heads (though by the look of it the reparation wouldn’t last longer than a half hour), and then Vector had fallen asleep, feet propped up on his desk. Espio had been about to imitate him, confident on the fact that Charmy had found a book with enough pictures to keep him entertained for a while.

But now that very book was being shoved in Espio's face, Charmy's hand frenetically pointing at something written in it. "Is this right? I don't think it's right."

"I don't know, I can't see anything if you put your finger in my eye" the chameleon groaned. Then, extending a hand: "C'mon, show me."

Espio had been sitting, cross-legged, on the floor. Instead of passing him the book, Charmy plopped unceremoniously in his lap, earning himself a grunt of discomfort from the ninja with his not-so-light weight.

"It says here" the bee said, ignoring his complaints "that chameleons eat bugs. D'you eat bugs, Espio? And bees? Bees are bugs. Do you eat bees, too?"

"If I did, I'd have solved half of my problems about six years ago" Espio muttered, low enough that Charmy could barely realize he was speaking.

"Huh?"

This time, the chameleon did sigh. "Nothing. No, I don't eat bugs, Charmy. Or bees. But perhaps the chameleons in this world do."

The book was a children's one, by the look of it, filled with colourful description of various animals. The kid had probably gotten it from the rich boy's house where Sonic and the others seemed to spend nearly all their time, though Espio didn't want to think about _how_ it might have fallen in Charmy's hands.

He hoped they'd lent it to him. Not that the human kid would miss it - he was too old to enjoy that sort of thing, and wealthy enough to buy dozens of copies of the same book - but it was the principle of the thing. They were a lousy detective agency as it was, without having their youngest member swipe objects from other people's houses.

(Though they were still speaking of Charmy, so perhaps he had just grabbed the book because he'd liked the cover and then promptly forgot he should have asked for permission before bringing it home. Straight up stealing wasn’t Charmy’s style, but no one would question his lack of manners.)

"I don't like these chameleons anyway" the bee grumbled, distracting him from his thoughts. "They don't look anything like you. They're weird. And the bugs are weird, too. And the bees..."

"...are weird?" Espio mused.

"Yeah! Well, they like honey, like me. But I'm cooler. And they're smaller than me, and they're weird. Everything's weird 'round here, but everyone says _we're_ the weird ones. It doesn't make any sense."

Though his blabbering was kind of confusing, the kid did have a point. The humans tended to see them either as amusing oddities or a danger to be hunted down for sport, usually depending on how recently Sonic had saved the planet or if Eggman had swayed the local President once more. They were a rather volatile people, Espio had found.

It was nothing like home, that much was clear. Sure, they didn't have to pay rent if they were on another planet, and it wasn't like they'd have gotten hundreds of cases if they'd stayed put, but they missed their homeland all the same. On Mobius, no one would have looked them as though they were ferocious beasts to keep locked up (which was disturbing) or particularly endearing pets to be coddled (which was mortifying for everyone except for Charmy, who had used the power of his dimpled smile to charm every old lady in the vicinity, the two-faced little shit).

Still. Not much they could do about it, until another portal opened to get them home, or until Eggman blew up another experiment and sent them flying to yet another planet. Dwelling on it would just make them feel worse.

But Charmy's face was still dark, and one could almost see the cogs turning in his little head as he muttered about weird people and weird planets; and Espio knew from experience that a pissed off Charmy was a dangerous Charmy, especially if cooped up inside a limited space.

So the chameleon curled a bit tighter around him, a comfort as well as a warning not to start any tantrum, and said evenly: "We're not weird, Charmy. And they're not weird...probably. We're just different from them, and it's taking them a long time to realize that it’s not a bad thing. They're not detectives like us, they don't notice stuff as fast as we do."

"I guess?" Charmy was still doubtful, and his brow still furrowed, but he was slowly relenting. Hinting at his role as a detective - putting him at the same level as Espio and Vector, oh-so-big and strong as he was - usually did the trick.

"They'll come around, I promise" the ninja continued. "In the meantime, why don't we check out what this thing has to say about this planet's crocodiles? I want to see if they eat as much as Vector does."

It was over. Charmy's scowl broke in a fit of giggles as he declared that _of course they didn't, no one could eat as much as Vector_, and he settled more comfortably in Espio's lap. The afternoon had been saved, and even if he kept accidentally elbowing his friend in the gut as he turned the book's pages, the kid would not get in any trouble so long as he stayed there, head safely tucked under the chameleon's chin.

And hopefully, someday soon, they would all get to go home, and Espio could stop pretending that he didn't find Earth a weird place, too.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a small thing I wrote one night when I couldn't sleep. Hope you enjoyed it, random as it is.


End file.
